Tone library / Dire straits / Sultan of swings

Sultan of swings amp settings — Fender Champion 20

The Dire straits guitar tone for “Sultan of swings”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 20 with a Eko SG. Studio version, Dire Straits (1978)

Original rig

1961 Fender Stratocaster (bridge+middle quack) into 1961 Brownface Fender Vibrolux combo, studio compression and subtle plate reverb

Clean, spanky, articulate Fender chime with fast percussive attack and mild compression

Amp settings — Fender Champion 20

CHANNELVoice: '65 Deluxe or '65 Twin (Tweed/Blackface clean voice)

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	4
Treble	7
Reverb	2
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge+middle TONE9 VOLUME9

Signal chain

01Compressor (Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer / Ross style)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned

Sustain 6 · Level 7

Why these settings

The Champion 20 lacks a dedicated mid knob, so dial the Voice control to the clean Blackface Fender setting and bump Treble to 7 to compensate for your SG's warmer humbuckers. Keep Bass tight at 4 to prevent low-end boominess and replicate the snappy single-coil spank of Knopfler's Strat. Gain is kept low at 3 for pristine headroom with just a hint of touch-responsive tube compression.

PRO TIPDitch the pick entirely and pluck with your bare thumb and index/middle fingers, snapping the strings against the fretboard on accents to get the signature percussive 'clack'.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Champion 20. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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